Russian, South Korean foreign minister to meet in Moscow

MOSCOW, August 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
on Monday will meet South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim
Sung-hwan.
The sides will discuss the current state and prospects for further
development of bilateral economic cooperation and closer ties in the areas
of science, culture, and the humanities.
"The two ministers will exchange views on pressing international and
regional problems, including the situation in North-East Asia and the
nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula," a spokesman for the Russian
Foreign Ministry said.
According to sources in South Korea's foreign ministry, Lavrov and Kim
Sung-hwan will focus on a possibility to re-launch the six-party
negotiation on Korean denuclearization.
The six-party negotiations, involving Russia, China, the US, Japan and
both Koreas over the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula are held with
long intervals in Beijing since August 27, 2003. The talks stalled in late
2008, when North Korea withdrew from the negotiating process in protest of
new U.N. sanctions. However, efforts to resume the six-nation Korean
denuclearization negotiations, involving both Koreas, Russia, China,
Japan, and the United States, have been intensified in the recent months.
On July 23, 2011, top-ranking officials from foreign ministries of the
two Koreas who are responsible for nuclear problems, Ri Yong-ho, Vice
Marshal of the North Korean People's Army Ri Yong-ho, who was reappointed
as the North Korean chief negotiator at the negotiations for the nuclear
disarmament on the Korean Peninsula, and adviser of the South Korean
foreign minister Wi Sung-lac met on the sidelines of the Association of
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Bali. They agreed to resume six-party
talks for the nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula.
Last week, a delegation from North Korea arrived in Beijing for
consultations. North Korea's first vice foreign minister Kim Kye Gwan met
with his Chinese counterpart to discuss possible resumption of contacts.
Kim Kye Gwan arrived in China shortly after a visit to the United States,
where he also focused on possible re-launch of the denuclearization talks.
He then reiterated his country's commitment to resume the six-party talks,
although U.S. diplomats gave him to understand that they were not
interested in talks just for the sake of talks as such, they were rather
interested in guarantees and actual steps on the part of North Korea.
Ahead of Kim Sung-hwan's Russian visit, South Korea reassured that it
appreciated Russia's experience as a constructive and reliable partner
both in international affairs and in terms of bilateral relations.
According to experts, trade turnover between the two countries have
been expanding considerably in the recent time. Thus, currently it stands
at about 18 billion U.S. dollars a year, while in the crisis period of
2008-2009 it shrank to 10 billion U.S. dollars. South Korea is a big
investor in the Russian economy: its investments have already exceeded two
billion U.S. dollars.
The two states are implementing large-scale projects in the nuclear,
electric power generation and fuels sectors, including Russian gas
supplies. In 2009-2010, a total of 2.6 million tons of liquefied natural
gas were exported to South Korea under the Sakhalin-2 project. Russian
exports mostly include raw materials, and its imports from South Korea are
made up of transport vehicles and equipment.
The sides are now actively working on a project to link the
Trans-Korean railway to Russia's TranSiberian railway.